The feds shut down Megaupload today, and the RIAA is juiced. In a statement released after the DoJ killed Megaupload, the RIAA celebrated victory with a hearty diatribe villainizing the file-sharing site.

WASHINGTON: The Department of Justice today announced that "individuals and two corporations have been charged in the United States with running an international organized criminal enterprise allegedly responsible for massive worldwide online piracy of numerous types of copyrighted works, through Megaupload.com and other related sites, generating more than $175 million in criminal proceeds and causing more than half a billion dollars in harm to copyright owners." Below is a comment from RIAA Chairman and CEO Cary Sherman:

"We are deeply grateful to the Justice Department professionals who worked tirelessly on this case for two years. Federal law enforcement has delivered a historic blow against one of the most notorious illegal distribution hubs in the world. The indictment outlines a sinister scheme to generate massive profits through the distribution of the stolen intellectual property of others. It also demonstrates that the Justice Department meant what it said when Attorney General Holder committed to enforcing intellectual property theft as a top priority. The indictment unveils the true nature of services such as Megaupload and should send a clear signal to other similar illegal distribution hubs that think they can violate the law with impunity."

"This also demonstrates the malicious intent of the criminal operators behind these illegal sites, which poses a very real and serious problem for the creative community. Anyone who doubts that should read this indictment closely. The government has many tools at its disposal, including criminal prosecution. But if this service were hosted and operated, for example, in a foreign country, our government would be essentially powerless to do anything about it. That needs to change."

The RIAA is excited, and even if the organization has used some choice words before, it has really outdone itself here by calling Megaupload "criminal operators" with the "malicious intent" of undermining the "creative community," and throwing in a plug for SOPA to boot. Impressive. Don't forget, though, that Megaupload hasn't been convicted of anything yet, and that a big part of the creative community the RIAA claims to represent supports Megaupload.